Battle of Fleurus

The Battle of Fleurus (26 June 1794) was a decisive French victory during the Flanders campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. In June 1794, General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan laid siege to the Belgian city of Charleroi. Austrian and Dutch forces, plus a sprinkling of British, under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg, advanced to relieve the city. Despite being fewer in number, the coalition forces attacked boldly near the town of Fleurus at daybreak on 26 June. Saxe-Coburg's forces attacked in five columns, those on the left and right driving back the French at each end of their line. Jourdan, however, had the unprecedented advantage of aerial reconnaissance, as his hydrogen balloon, Entreprenant, floated above the battlefield. The crew of two, including the mastermind of the project, Charles Coutelle, stayed in the air for the duration of the battle, sliding messages about enemy movements down a cable to the ground. Aided by this impressive view of the battlefield, Jourdan was able to rally his forces on the right and left and launch an attack in the center. The coalition forces were obliged to retreat, although the French, short of ammunition and exhausted, did not pursue. The victory was nonetheless decisive. The French occupied Belgium, which they were to hold for the next 20 years. By relaxing the fear of foreign invasion, the victory undermined the extremists of the ruling Committee of Public Safety, which fell in July 1794.